Don't Mess with the Moose-Killer

At Politico, Andy Barr notes that Republicans pay a price for attacks on Sarah Palin. Rick Santorum learned the hard way:

In Santorum’s case, the former Pennsylvania senator got into trouble in a web-radio interview with conservative commentator S.E. Cupp. While his recent jibes at Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour landed without much notice, Santorum’s Palin comments blew up in his face.

Asked why he thought Palin wasn’t attending the Conservative Political Action Conference, he responded: “I have a feeling that she has some demands on her time, and a lot of them have financial benefit attached to them.” He added that Palin had “other business opportunities” as well as “all these kids” to look after as a mother, both of which caused constraints on her time.

Though Santorum later insisted otherwise, his comments seemed to imply that Palin was more interested in cashing in on her celebrity than running for office, a critique rarely voiced in public by Republican officials. And his mention of her children — an especially freighted reference — only compounded the situation.

Santorum’s remarks were delivered to a small audience via the Internet. Palin’s response came on Fox News. And she didn’t hold back, asserting that she took particular offense to his suggestion that she as a mother had “other responsibilities” that he as a father of seven does not.

“My kids don’t hold me back from attending a conference,” Palin said in an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity. “I will not call him the knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. I’ll let his wife call him that instead.”

The story dominated conservative media, with Fox & Friends calling it the “first political kerfuffle of the 2012 presidential campaign.” Palin-friendly bloggers and pundits savaged Santorum for the remarks.